Books I Read in February

 Only four books read this month, but that last one was the size of four alone! 

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury is the first book I've read of his since Fahrenheit 451 probably fifty years ago. I wasn't even aware that Bradbury wrote anything other than Sci-Fi until I happened upon this quote from Dandelion Wine: "Hold summer in your hand, pour summer in a glass. Change the season in your veins by raising a glass to lip and tilting summer in." That sent me in search of the book, which my library had, so...

At first I thought the poetic prose was a little too much, but I got used to it and enjoyed the story based on Bradbury's own memories of growing up in Waukegan, IL.

Farewell Summer is Bradury's sequel to Dandelion Wine published 49 years later. I didn't care as much for this book. 

Eye Of The Needle by Ken Follett is a spy thriller set during WWII in the time leading up to D-Day. Published first under the title Storm Island in 1978, it won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. 

World Without End by Ken Follett is the second book in The Kingsbridge Series. It takes place 157 years after The Pillars of the Earth and intertwines the historical Edwardian War (the first phase of The Hundred Years' War) and the Black Death. It was thought provoking to be reading about the bubonic plague of the 1300's in the midst of our current pandemic.

I am learning more history about early Great Britain from this series than I ever did in school. And I'm loving it!

With only four books to report upon, I have room for this poem about books and reading:

                    I Opened A Book by Julia Donaldson

I opened a book and in I strode

Now nobody can find me.

I've left my chair, my house, my road,

My town and my world behind me.

I'm wearing the cloak, I've slipped on the ring,

I've swallowed the magic potion.

I've fought with a dragon, dined with a king

And dived in a bottomless ocean.

I opened a book and made some friends.

I shared their tears and laughter

And followed their road with its bumps and bends

To the happily ever after.

I finished my book and out I came.

The cloak can no longer hide me.

My chair and my house are just the same,

But I have a book inside me.

And that is why I love to read.

Less Snow for the Full Snow Moon

 

The deer are having an easier time foraging now that the snow has been melting for a few days. February was our highest snowfall month of the winter. Combined with the frigid temperatures, it definitely felt like winter!

If the Full Snow Moon had been earlier in the month, I wouldn't have had any photos of it. Too cold to go out. This one was taken at 6:23a.m. yesterday. I was going for the moon between the clouds and accidently also got some of the blinking red lights on the many wind generators that are now part of the scenery. 

The moon was its fullest at 2:17 this morning. I took this picture at 7:01a.m. It is my 'official' Full Snow Moon photo for 2021.

It was around 30° at 7:00a.m.. And while it didn't exactly feel like Spring, it sounded like it. There were several Cardinals singing from the treetops down along the fenceline. 

A little later, these two flew in and landed on the ice. I know they were wondering where the open water was. In some years past, the pond has been completely free of ice. 

The blues and pinks of yesterday's sunrise reminded me of my baby blanket. Perhaps I just have babies on my mind - specifically my new great-grandson, Louis. Oh, okay, here is another picture of him:

I can't decide who he looks like, though in this photo he reminds me of my brother's grandson, Austin. 

I don't think I've walked outside since that Festivus morning walk in the dark. So I'm going out this afternoon when it is 55°. Just a walk in the neighborhood, I think, though I'm tempted to take to the trails at one of the lakes.

Better Check Your Auto Insurance Renewal

 A few months ago I started seeing pop ups like "new laws affect your insurance rates". I figured they were just click bate and never opened any. But our auto renewal policy arrived recently and I took the time to read it. On the 4th page was a paragraph headed "A New Auto Pricing Plan is available in Your State". It stated that if we were interested in learning if we qualified we should call to request a no-obligation quote.

Cutting to the chase: I called, spent about 20 minutes with a very gracious customer service rep and got our annual insurance rate cut almost in half! The renewal rate was more than $100 a month, so it is a substantial savings. I was elated; could hardly believe it. So, my advice: read your policy and call your agent. 

Other updates: Last Saturday, after setting in the frigid temps for almost ten days, my car wouldn't start.  HD used the jumper cables and got me going. I wanted to drive a few miles to get the battery charged up, so I went out to Green Valley Lake.

I was curious to see if there was any open water for the geese and found a much smaller area than usual. I'm not sure what kind of ducks those were, but I think Northern Pintail.

I don't care how cold it gets and how long it stays cold, you would not catch me driving out on the lake to ice fish. Of course, I wouldn't walk out on the frozen lake to fish, either. Those tents did make for a colorful photo though.

Did you know more fish are caught through the ice than in open water? That's according to the Iowa DNR. I suppose it makes sense, the fish would be hungrier in winter. 

This little guy is the BIG NEWS of the week.

Our 10th great-grandchild was born a week ago today.

I was so sure the baby would be a girl, possibly because we already had seven great-grandsons and only two great-granddaughters.

He arrived a week early, but at a very healthy 8lbs, 13ozs and 21 inches.

Here he is at one week old. You can't imagine how much I am looking forward to seeing him in person. Hopefully the week after we have our second covid vaccinations.

The biggest surprise - what touches me the most - is his name - Louis - which was my Dad's name. Though I think it is more because Louis is my son's middle name and the baby's middle name is Edward which was my son's dad's middle name.

So Louis Edward was named for his grandpa, great-grandpa and great-great-grandfather. To go a bit further, he was born the day after my younger brother's birthday and his middle name is also Louis.  Oh, baby.

Spring and meeting a new great-grandson and the end to self-isolating to look forward to. How could a week get any better?

Bleak, Bitter, Frigid, Frosty

Eight degrees below zero this morning. We are in the grip (about which I gripe) of a cold snap. It began Thursday and is forecast to last into next week. Today is the first day in several that we haven't had snow - yet. It is also the first day we've seen the sun for awhile, which helps some. I had been doing pretty well dealing with almost a year of self-isolating, but the intense cold pushed me over into some depressed feelings. The last time I went out for groceries was January 29th. On the 3rd of Feb, I did the curbside pickup of books at the Library. Other than those trips I have only been outside briefly - to the mailbox and on the deck taking some pictures. These were all taken looking through the window.

Except this one, which I stuck my head out the door for a little after seven this morning. It looks pretty bleak doesn't it? I should have saved the Rossetti Bleak Midwinter poem for today.

Bitter

Frigid

Frosty

Snow on snow on snow

As I said, the sunshine today helps alot, as do these lovely roses HD brought home yesterday. Bonus: These actually smell like roses. I'm enveloped in their fragrance when I walk into the room. 

Positive news helps, too. A phone call to my brother to find him feeling better after his year of two heart surgeries, a stroke and covid.

And from my daughter with an update on her interview for a very interesting new job. 

As cold as it is here, I don't even want to know how cold it is in Minnesota where these two great-grands live. This photo of Maverick and Lily was taken January 25 when the cold weather was tolerable. Seeing photos of the little ones also helps keep my spirits up.

The Arctic freeze has taken hold at their home,too, so this weekend their mom challenged the family to create an indoor golf course. Dad set to work and spent the whole day making  miniature putt-putt holes upstairs and down. 

They hauled out all the cardboard boxes they were saving to recycle. This windmill actually works. I don't know how Evan did that. They shared bunches of photos of everyone having fun. Seeing the ways my granddaughter and her husband are raising their children gives me hope for the future and so much pleasure. 

Life is only a series of days, even during a long cold spell in February. I know this ennui will pass. It will warm up, spring will arrive. We will get our covid vaccinations. The snow upon snow upon snow will melt. The bleak midwinter days will pass. Until they do, I have two massive novels to read - the first 1014 pages, the second, 909. It will be the end of the month before I get those read. And then it will be March....and April....and May...... 😎

 

What A Coinkydink!

 

I was in a hurry to start reading a new book this morning.

So I blindly grabbed an old appointment card to use as a bookmark.

Coincidence?

A Pre-Television Memory About Newspapers

 

The Des Moines Register was the newspaper I grew up reading. During the week it was delivered by our rural mail carrier along with our daily mail. But early in the early morning hours on Sunday, it was delivered to our door by a special "Sunday paper carrier". 

There was even a dedicated newspaper holder attached next to the backdoor. It was a slender piece of metal with a decorative curve at the top, a straight section which fit against the door frame before billowing out in a large semi-circle to hold the newspaper, ending in another straight piece with an attached, small, dish shaped coin holder.

The Sunday paper carrier collected for the entire week and it was important to put the money out for him before going to bed Saturday night. I don't remember the price of the paper then, but it was something like ten cents a day and a quarter on Sunday. i.e. something like eighty-five cents. Mom always tried to put out the exact change, but if she didn't have it, she would put out a dollar bill or four quarters and the driver would leave the difference along with the little paid receipt. In those days of my 25 cent allowance, I was always on the lookout for unclaimed loose change. Once in awhile I would find a forgotten dime and nickel in that coin holder. And therein lies the heart of this memory.

Back then, before television became the standard form of entertainment, neighbors got together to visit. Often the adults played cards while the kids ran around outside playing tag, hide-and-seek or kick-the-can. I was on the porch at their back door when I noticed they had a paper holder just like ours. Whether out of habit or curiosity, I reached up and felt inside the little coin dish - and found money! I knew it wasn't enough to be the full amount of what a week of papers cost. I reasoned it must have been the leftover change. So I took it. I don't know how much later it was that I learned not all families took the full week of newspapers. Some only got the Sunday edition. The money I took might have been for that. I would never know. Just as I never admitted to my theft.

That was sixty-seven years ago. Any statute of limitations expired long ago. Obviously my guilt feelings have not. Perhaps now admitting my childish misbehaviour will ease my troubled mind and put this troubling memory to rest. 

However, it does bring up another question. Why did Dad take the Des Moines Register which was a more liberal, Democratic leaning paper, instead of the Omaha World Herald, which was not only more popular in our Southwest corner of the state, but more like my father, conservative and Republican?

 

Meanwhile, As the Groundhog Searches for Its Shadow

 

Lovely turtle dove

What are you thinking

Sitting on that frosty twig?

Dreaming of warmer days

When once again your

Voice is carried on the wind?

Declaring with every bill and coo

Spring is here

--- and so are you!

Midwinter, St. Bridget's Day and Imbolc

 

"In the bleak midwinter

Frosty wind made moan; 

Earth stood hard as iron, 

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow;

Snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter

Long ago."   (Christina Rossetti)

Today is St. Bridget's Day, also known as Imbolc, and marks the beginning of Spring, which is hard for me to grasp. Yet my Celtic forebears viewed this date as the arrival of longer, warmer days and early signs of spring - midway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. It marks the beginning of lambing season and the stirrings of new life. It is the promise of renewal.

Imbolc is the time to let go of the past and look to the future; clear out the old and make space for new beginnings. (Think spring cleaning.)

St. Bridget is the patron saint of babies, midwives, boatmen, dairymaids, poultry farmers, cattlemen, the poor, scholars and poets, to name just a few. In ancient Irish mythology, she was a fire goddess.

Imbolc begins today and continues into tomorrow. February 2nd - Groundhog Day. The day we traditionally wait for to see whether or not the Groundhog sees its shadow. Will we have and early Spring or six more weeks of winter?

Regardless of the traditions, even with snow on the ground and in the forecast, Spring will be here soon and that is something to celebrate. 

                                                            Happy Imbolc